Small businesses are the backbone of our economy—creating most of the new jobs in Michigan. Just ask George Snyder, Steve Klaver, and Doug Smith, co-owners of DBI Office Interiors in Lansing.

George, Steve, and Doug manage dozens of employees and work with many local vendors. In February, I met with them at their Lansing office along with other area business owners including The Greater Lansing Business Monthly publisher Chris Holman. They all expressed concerns about a new, burdensome recordkeeping provision.

This provision, known as the “1099 requirement,” would have forced all business owners to file an IRS form 1099 for every vendor from whom they purchase goods valued at over $600. Due to this requirement, business owners would be forced to stop and fill out IRS forms instead of focus on their business and create more jobs.

In fact, if the new regulation had not been repealed, 1099 filings for 40 million American businesses—most of them small businesses— could have increased by as much as 2000 percent! Like other business owners across Michigan, George, Steve, and Doug would rather spend their time growing their business and hiring workers, not filling out unnecessary paperwork for the IRS.

Creating an environment where small businesses can flourish is a top priority for me. That’s why for the last several months, I have been leading the effort to repeal this provision. I am happy to report that this effort has paid off. Congress passed final legislation to fix this requirement with overwhelming bipartisan support and has sent it to the President’s desk for his signature. That kind of bipartisanship is all too rare in Washington. I was extremely pleased that in this case, common sense prevailed over partisan politics.

In the end, business owners will no longer have to worry about complying with this unnecessary and complicated reporting requirement. I am pleased that Congress was able to work in a bipartisan manner to help small business owners across the country.

Along with wide bipartisan support in the Senate, organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council, the National Association of Manufacturers, the American Farm Bureau, and the National Association of Realtors supported 1099 repeal.

This 1099 repeal was pro-Michigan and pro-business and does not add to our deficit. It is a practical solution for people like George, Steve, and Doug to spend their time growing their company and creating jobs.

The United States must be able to out-innovate, out-build, and out-educate our competition around the world. Repealing this burdensome reporting requirement was one step Congress took to allow small businesses to grow, creating economic opportunity and jobs for Michigan families.

		United States Senator Debbie Stabenow was born and raised in Michigan. Stabenow serves on the key economic committees, where she has passed new tax cuts for small businesses and manufacturers to create jobs in Michigan. She authored the Senate version of the Cash for Clunkers bill and led the effort to pass the law.